In February 2007, new material about web ethics and internet safety was launched on Denmark’s largest portal for teachers. The new online section on education in web ethics is the result of a cooperation between the National IT and Telecom Agency, UNI•C and the Danish awareness node, the Media Council for Children and Young People. It provides teachers with information, inspiration and concrete tools to use when working with internet safety and web ethics with students.

The educational section contains cases for starting a debate about web ethics, role plays on how to behave when using the internet and mobiles, examples of how students can make a newspaper about netiquette. Moreover, students and teachers can find information about copyright and Creative Commons when using texts, sound and images from the internet.

All in all, the new web section is a platform that will make it easier for Danish teachers to draw children and young people’s internet world into their teaching. Susanne Boe, Head of the Secretariat of the Media Council says:

”Children mostly use the internet and mobiles outside school, and therefore they first and foremost learn about these media from each other. But it is important that this part of children’s reality is included in the school context so that they have the possibility to openly reflect upon their media use in a secure framework. This is what the educational material will open the way for.”

Other themes encompass advice on how to handle computer viruses, phishing and strangers attempting to contact children via the internet.

”It is important for us to teach young people to take good care of themselves and their equipment. With ”Web Ethics”(ed. the web section) we hope that teachers will also participate in taking good care of young people’s safety”(translated from Danish), says Flemming Faber, Head of Office, the National IT and Telecom Agency.

Managing Director of UNI•C, Dorte Olesen says: ”It is good that we can make a shared IT-platform such as the EMU available through which players can cooperate– not the least to the benefit of educational institutions. With this initiative, we want to take part in advancing students’ and teachers’ IT competences and at the same time focus on the possibilities and risks related to the use of the internet and digital media in general”(translated from Danish).

Throughout 2007, the web section will be updated with new educational material focusing on children and young people’s use of the internet and mobile phones: http://www.emu.dk/webetik

Gry Hasselbalch, Danish Media Council for Children and Young People